Char.Essen: Food blogger
Before I got into this space, I thought being a creative only meant someone who was artsy or knew how to play around with a camera, worked for a magazine or publication, or something of that sort. It took me a while to identify as a creative because I thought I needed to be better to be called one. Ah, imposter syndrome… but that is not what this conversation is about! This is actually about food. Ah, food. One of life's most simple yet wonderful pleasures. A food blogger is another creative.
Food blogging has become quite popular in the last couple of years. There might be many more blogs devoted to food than sports, science, celebrities etc. There's a lot of work that goes into this craft. These aren't just people who keep us waiting to eat our food whilst they capture the almost perfect picture (let's face it, their Instagram feeds constantly make us drool a little). When we really look at it, food bloggers share knowledge and advice about food with their communities. This is also like creating gastronomic memoirs. One is documenting their relationship with food and capturing that full life filled with deliciousness. This is particularly important given the transient nature of food: photographing or writing about a gastronomic experience fixes it in time and gives the foodie something enduring to which they can return. It is not simply an exercise in consumerism gone wild. It's more a way of taking a consumer activity and making it productive and creative, turning it into a craft activity.
Okay, this piece is not to convince me to become a food blogger. This is more to do with an encounter that made an impression on me when I first started Unscripted. I recall connecting with Charlie's food blog on Instagram. She had posted this one cookie dorayaki. I had to ask where she had got it; it looked so yummy! Another monumental moment with this blogger was after we had connected via WeChat. I honestly was still figuring out my identity as a blogger (does anyone actually read this stuff, do I continue with this, what’s the plan?). I recall we were both using our actual names and she asked if I was the one running UnscriptedSH and she introduced herself. Ah validation! it honestly warmed my heart and I felt like, I can continue with this blogging thing. It has felt right to delve into a conversation with her on food and her journey as a food blogger.
Food blogging is a very interesting space and it must take some passion to follow through. What determined your passion for blogging? Tell us about when you decided this was the way to go.
My passion for food is probably inherited from the family - when my family goes on travelling, we are mainly exploring the local food places and specialised food, rather than focusing on the natural activities. (Mmm, maybe that also explains why my family members are generally on the chubby side haha)
Started with having phones with camera, I started to take photos of the food if I find it worth documenting. However, my boyfriend at that time had been telling me that ‘stop taking pictures of food’ and ‘no one cares about your photos, this is very annoying’. I was ashamed of taking pictures of food, I thought it was stupid.
I didn’t even have the idea of starting a food blog until I was strongly encouraged by a very important person, who told me that my food pics are always very appetising and I should start a blog! I was like - Wow.
I started the blog in early 2020, when England was in lockdown, and I was finishing my master’s degree. I didn’t have too much to do besides reading and ‘resenting’ England’s Tier System. That was when I began to search more recipes, cook more and recording the food. Initially I was just doing that for myself to keep the memories of my life in England and during the lockdown, because we all know that food also reflects your mood at that time. I continued my eating blogging as well after getting back to Shanghai. I am so grateful that my food blog is now having more attention and I have made so many foodie friends.
In image above: Sunday Roast
I have to delve into this one. In 2022 April and May, things completely closed down. My content is mainly just writing. I had a lot of time to on my hands but i could not harness any creativity. Did this affect your passion for blogging? How did you overcome this one?
Actually the lockdown happened in Shanghai didn’t affect me negatively on food blogging. Partially because I started this blog during the UK lockdown, and during Shanghai lockdown, I could finally have more time focusing on home cooking and not always relying on food deliveries.
From personal perspective, I do enjoy staying at home and having some me-time. Lockdown gave me plenty of that. I guess I was one of the lucky ones that had enough food supplies and genuinely don’t hate the distance of socialising life.
It was also fun to see how some F&B venues started to do deliveries, and how much they increased the prices compared to previous times, which I understand, in some parts, if not unreasonably overcharged.
In image above: 📍Charlie’s first coffee shop experience in Exeter.
How does Shanghai’s food culture compare to other places that you have travelled to?
I am originally from Shanghai, I am definitely a fan of my home food haha. For this question, I would like to divide it into two parts - Shanghai’s local food, and Shanghai’s international fusion.
Shanghai’s local food is like sweet Chinese food. Sugar and soy sauce are huge parts of Shanghai cuisine, you should really see how my grandma cooks. The story behind ‘sugar’, as what I have heard, was like back then, sugar was rare in the region and people se sugar to show off their fortune and social class. With that influence, Shanghai’s food tradition has become sweeter. Besides that, Shanghai style dishes tend to have smaller size with layers of seasoning, thick sauce and sweet gummy dessert. It is a sense of sharing different flavours, different stories and comes with a sweet end as good wishes.
On the other hand, you can really taste the world in Shanghai! So many international restaurants, and even those restaurants that mix multiple cuisines together, such as Japanese and Latin American food. The internationalisation in Shanghai is not only reflected by the population, but also by the F&B industry. It is so convenient to just taste different cultures in Shanghai, curing the nostalgic feelings for expats in some way and reaching to some imaginative trips abroad by trying out the specific foods.
The massive variety and possibilities of food opportunities in Shanghai have motivated many new business and venues to open, I am so looking forward to seeing more ideas and nice dishes coming up in the future! It is so exciting!
In image above: 📍Pakuri, Japanese restaurant in Shanghai
One of my favourite things about China was the diversity when it came to food. In loved letting my friends pick different places to eat. What is your perspective on the China food scene?
Chinese food is like a Kaleidoscope! Different cuisines from different regions usually tend to use different ingredients and seasoning. Apparently it derives from the climate, the agriculture and the social tradition of the region. I personally find it fascinating just by trying out various dishes - although I am not courageous enough to taste or agree with all food, such as raw pork, silkworm chrysalis, or some animals that shouldn’t be food at all.
Chinese food has so much to offer, I am definitely an advocator of Chinese food!
In image above: Cantonese Food
What would you say has been the highlight since launching your blog?
The food bog has enabled me to connect with so many brilliant foodies!! I have made many friends across the world just from food blogs. It opened up a door of finding fellows that shares the same interest and listen to different perspectives of food.
As I mentioned before, I don’t mind staying at home, but I do get that sometimes I get toooo comfortable staying in. This food blog motivates and pushes me to go out to restaurants or food events, which enabled me to meet new people in real life. It is one of the topics that I can always open up to people and sometimes I justo don’t know how to stop haha. Food blogging has brightened me up so much, and I am looooving it!
Additionally, having this food blog gave me a perfect platform to express my honest and judgmental reviews on things. I have found so many places in Shanghai that I absolutely adore and many places in Shanghai with good reviews on social media but meh IMO. It is fantastic to be the food tester for new places, so exciting!!
In image above: Pan-fried beef dumplings
Where are your favourite breakfast destinations in the city?
SO MANY!!! I do have some favourites -
Favourite morning drinks - Hot Black Coffee or Unsweetened Soy Milk!
Favourite morning dishes - Hot croissants with cheese and ham, or grilled cheese sandwiches, or Chinese Jianbing with fried bread and extra bean paste!
Favourite morning snack - fresh smoothie, or fresh fruit if I feel like chewing.
I don’t have a favourite breakfast destinations as in a specific place I would go to, but trying out these items in different cafes and breakfast stores is so fun! With Shanghai’s over 7000 coffee shops, the exploration never stops!!
If you could eat only one meal a day, what would you eat?
Lunch!!
I will be hungry enough to eat a big lunch, and have enough time to digest for the rest of the day! I would love to have English Sunday Roast every single day if you ask me what I would choose if I can only have one dish for the rest of my life haha.
Any project you might want to plug?
I have been wanting to join and organise some foodie meet-ups in Shanghai but never got the time and energy to put in action. I should really get into it!
Apart from that, I am now working on creating brutally honest lists of go-to places in Shanghai in my opinion, entailing different cuisine types. Shanghai has so many different restaurants, which means the going to the good ones so that you could save the energy, money and disappointment is vital! Also it would make it easier if my friends ask me again ‘where should I go if I want xxx food’.
As Chinese policy is starting to open up on covid, I am looking forward to travelling and experiencing more food cultures in China and abroad! 😍
Follow Charlie’s Food Blog on the link below :)
